


Rebuilding

by vassalady



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, Getting Together, Multi, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-09 17:06:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3257657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vassalady/pseuds/vassalady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria, Pepper, and Natasha eventually find their way to one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rebuilding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Salmon_Pink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmon_Pink/gifts).



> This if for salmon_pink, who wanted a threesome fic with Natasha! It takes place after the Winter Soldier, disregards AoS (which I haven't seen), and is somewhat of a quiet fic, I think. I hope you like it!
> 
> Thank you to the mod for running this exchange!

\-- _Maria_ \--

Natasha was meant to be off the grid. New identity, new life. She hadn’t said goodbye to Maria, which damn her for that, even though it didn’t surprise Maria in the slightest. Plus, Maria was pretty sure Natasha still had her jacket.

Maria didn’t ask Pepper if Natasha had gone to see her before she disappeared. It wasn’t because Maria wanted to know if Natasha loved Pepper more than she loved Maria. It wasn’t a competition. And Maria wasn’t quite sure if “love” was the right word to use with Natasha. Natasha cared. She’d said before that she didn’t love. But she cared, for both Maria and Pepper.

It had been three years prior when Natasha had come back from the Stark mission, taken Maria in her arms, and said she’d started something with Virginia Potts. Back then, Maria had only known Pepper by reputation, from intel and gossip. A capable woman, strong, newly appointed CEO and bound to do an expert job running Stark Industries. 

As Maria had kissed the back of Natasha’s neck, she murmured against Natasha’s skin, hands trailing down her bare back, “Are you going to keep seeing her?”

“When she’s forgiven me for playing Natalie,” Natasha replied simply.

Natasha didn’t ask if Maria was okay with that; Maria didn’t need to say she was. Their relationship, in perhaps the most basic sense, would be seen as open. For them, it was what it was. They had each other, and sometimes there were others, and sometimes there weren’t, sometimes together and sometimes individually. Fluid.

But now Maria found an ache in her heart with Natasha gone without saying goodbye.

At first, she was angry. (She caught Steve and Sam before they left. They had seen Natasha and Nick, and when Maria next saw Nick, she was going to have Words with him about his own behavior.) Then she just missed Natasha, in a way that was wholly different than the way Maria had missed her when she was away on missions.

Back then, no matter how dangerous, there was still the idea of her coming back.

Now there wasn’t.

After the Battle of New York, Maria had finally met the notorious Pepper Potts. She was stunning, with a radiant and powerful presence to match her prestine white suit and smooth smile. Maria saw the appeal immediately. They didn’t become fast friends (Stark had still been spewing a great deal of nonsense at the time, and Pepper had been distracted by both his antics and keeping an eye on Natasha), but there was respect there, from one professional to another.

It wasn’t enough though to justify Stark Industries being Maria’s first instinct as a new career path.

She applied all the same and was accepted in a position that left her in immediate contact with Pepper daily.

Pepper sought and valued Maria’s opinion, although she never relied on it. She listened to what people offered and acted in the best interests of the company and its employees. She paid attention to those around her, appreciated everyone’s work, and expected no more than what she was willing to put forth. And, most of all, Pepper was kind. Maria could count on one hand the number of people she knew who were kind.

Kind people didn’t usually end up as spies.

Before she knew it, Maria was doing a lot more than just seeing Pepper at work.

\--

Maria awoke to her phone beeping incessantly with several emails. She gave them a glance to ascertain whether they were important (yes and no - a heads up from a source that she would soon face some committee hearings regarding SHIELD), and then promptly rolled over, her arm draping over Pepper’s torso.

Beneath her, Pepper murmured incoherent sounds as she woke up. She turned and met Maria’s gaze with a lazy grin. “Good morning,” she started to say, but it tapered off into a yawn.

Maria leaned in to press her forehead against Pepper’s. “Morning.”

Pepper sighed and shifted, so that she could tuck her head underneath Maria’s chin. Although it was the wrong shade, more blonde than the blazing red of Natasha’s, there was a little pang of loss in Maria when she saw Pepper’s hair fanned out behind her in messy clumps.

Eventually she would see Natasha again; she had to believe that. The thought of not having a target end mission date was the difficult part.

Beneath her, Pepper shifted again, and somehow, Maria ended up with her head tucked against Pepper’s breast, one ear pressed against her bare skin. There was the faint thud from her heart. When Pepper spoke, Maria could hear the rumble move through Pepper.

“I miss her, too.”

One thing that impressed Maria so much about Pepper was how observant she was. Maria and Natasha were both trained for it for their profession. But in her own way, first as Stark’s PA and then CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper had her own use for being able to sum up a person in little more than a glance. To understand what they wanted.

Maria was grateful.

\--

With the last of the commission hearings over, now more than six months after the SHIELD affair, Maria was thankful as she slid into the back seat of Pepper’s car after one for the last time.

Pepper squeezed her hand. “You did it.”

“The fact that I’m not in jail right now is impressive in and of itself,” Maria said. She caught the empathetic look on Pepper’s face. “Thanks to you, of course. Without your team of lawyers-”

Pepper waved her hand in the air. “Don’t even mention it. I’m just glad it’s over.” Pepper smiled again, but then she glanced away, biting her lip.

Maria didn’t have to be a former spy to know something was up. “If you tell me know, it’s better than later.”

Half a dozen possibilities ran through her mind. Expect everything, Fury had once said. But the one thing she immediately discarded the moment it came to mind was news of Natasha’s death. That wouldn’t - couldn’t - happen, and if it had, Pepper would be acting differently.

Not shy or timid as she was now, but open and with clear grief.

Pepper handed Maria a large brown envelope. “That was delivered to the office this morning. Forged post office marks, but good enough at a glance for the mailroom to sort.”

Maria pulled out the contents of the folder. After paging through it, she just sat there for a moment before bursting out into laughter. “Is this it?”

Pepper, who found her own amusement at the situation once Maria had, nodded. “I’m not quite sure what to say to our mysterious sender, but…”

Maria looked at the top most photo. It wasn’t anything scandalous - simply the two of them sharing dinner in Pepper’s home, a lingering kiss at the end of the meal - and the whole “closet gay scare” was laughably old fashioned to women like Pepper and Maria.

“So what are they asking?” she said as she tucked everything away. “Hush money? Some new Stark medevac respirators? A threesome?”

Pepper laughed. “Oh god, I hope not. No, they haven’t asked for anything, and that’s the strange part. I imagine we’ll see it in a gossip article soon enough.”

Maria couldn’t muster up anymore uneasiness at the idea of her private life being exposed. Everything SHIELD had on her - her personal information, what she had done before SHIELD and what she had done for SHIELD - was on display to anyone online.

Yes, much of the sensitive data had been taken down by court order, but it was out there already.

Maria’s life, along with every SHIELD agent (along with Natasha’s) had been exposed and examined like an open wound consistently being picked at. Sure, it was still a bit raw, but Maria was used to it by now.

“Well, you should probably up security around all your apartments and homes. A snoop is a snoop.”

She felt Pepper’s fingers trace over her hand lightly. “Do you want this?” Pepper said. “Do you want to make an announcement or…?”

Maria entwined their fingers together. “No,” she said at last. They leaned into one another. “But you could buy me a fancy dress for the next SI function.”

Pepper acquiesced with a kiss. “Of course.”

 

\-- _Pepper_ \--

The first time Pepper met Natasha, she was Natalie Rushman, with a more than glowing resume. And, Pepper was only a little embarrassed to say, she had searched her name and come across her model photos.

In all fairness, Pepper had already decided to hire her. But she indulged herself. Curiousity, she told herself, or if there was something that could compromise SI, something Ms. Rushman had left out. But that was a lie. 

Natalie Rushman was beautiful in her model photos. She was even more beautiful in person.

Pepper did not have designs on her at the time, however. It was pure aesthetic appreciation.

That fell by the wayside quickly.

Natalie had said she was with someone else, an open relationship she said. Pepper took her at her word, and in the end, it was one of the few true things she had told Pepper.

When Pepper found out Natalie wasn’t who she said she was, well… Pepper would be lying (again) if she said she didn’t feel hurt. Once again, a good thing in her life had come down to Tony.

Pepper loved Tony, she did, and she was grateful he was safe and well again, and how stupid was he to hide the fact that he was dying from her and Rhodey! But she had thought that Natalie had been for her.

In some ways, she was. In many, she wasn’t. And when Natasha’s cover was blown and her mission over, she left.

Pepper lied to herself that she wasn’t bitter, at least at first. As time passed, however, she got over it.

It helped that one evening, a month or so after the Battle of New York, Natasha showed up on Pepper’s doorstep. For that one night, it was like she had never left. That the past couple years hadn’t happened, that New York hadn’t happened, that both Natasha and Tony and thousands upon thousands of people hadn’t almost died.

And that was the last time she’d seen Natasha until she showed up to say goodbye.

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this,” Pepper joked, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed.

There was something in Natasha’s smile that felt hollow. “And give up the mystique? Never.”

They did nothing more than talk that night. When Pepper awoke the next morning, she found a blanket draped over her and a short note in Natasha’s careful, slanted handwriting. 

_Take care._

\--

Pepper did not tell Maria that Natasha had asked her to help legally. It was an idea Pepper had already considered. Maria had applied for a position within Stark Industries, and her resume and references (although allegedly dead or on the run) were well trusted by both Pepper and Tony (no matter how much he pretended to gripe.) She was already hired, and Pepper would protect her own. Natasha’s request only solidified Pepper’s resolve.

What Pepper had not counted on was how enamoured she would become. 

Maria was the most capable person, even more so than Natasha, that Pepper had ever had the pleasure of working with. Maria was used to command under Fury. She knew how to both work under someone and when to question that person’s judgement. Maria’s help became invaluable as Pepper sought to expand SI.

Pepper was starting to have a bad habit of falling into bed with her former spy employees, though. If this ever happened a third time, she would have to seek professional help for highly unprofessional behavior.

Natasha had been worth it. Mara was worth it.

For the first time in a long time, Pepper was on solid ground both during the day and after, when Maria would come home with her, and they would talk or watch a movie or take a bath together, touching each other until Pepper was gasping for breath as she came.

\--

“You look beautiful,” Pepper said.

“Thank you,” Maria said. Her cheeks held just the slightest blush. She was a bit easy to tease when she had her guard down, and Pepper loved it.

She did look gorgeous, in a floor length gown that flattered her figure. Pepper took her by the hand and brought her in with a twirl. She placed one hand on Maria’s bare bicep and the other at the small of her back.

“You ready to be my eye candy for the evening?” Pepper said, a small smirk playing on her lips.

Maria gave it a drawn out moment of thought. “If you make it worth it in the end.”

Pepper felt a warmth settle low in her belly. “I promise I can do that.”

\--

At some point, Maria moved in with Pepper. They didn’t so much discuss it as it happened. 

Their status as a couple was public knowledge, and they never heard more from the mysterious photographer. 

They both were and weren’t an it couple. They got some calls asking for interviews, but they turned them all down. Articles were still written about them, but Pepper was not as exciting as Tony Stark had been to the tabloids, and they only trudged out Maria’s SHIELD past when things got slow.

They settled into a groove and, for the most part, were happy. It wasn’t what either had expected or set out for, but it was good.

Then, out of the blue, Natasha showed up on their doorstep. Pepper could only stare.

Natasha looked like she hadn’t been gone for the past year. She looked the same as always, a little distant, a little mysterious, and absolutely gorgeous.

Natasha smiled at her. “Well, this is a bit deja vu.”

 

\-- _Natasha_ \--

“You ever try to get blood out of silk?”

“That’s why I’ve told you, keep track!”

“I can’t! It’s too irregular, and it was early!”

Natasha used the edge of her file to pick under her nails. 

“Hey, Jo, do you know how to get blood stains out of silk?”

Natasha glanced over at the two women in the cubicles behind her. They sat away from their computers, headsets hooked over the partitions. Patsy, the one who had spoken, was chewing at her thumbnail.

“Oh, Jo won’t know,” Millie said with a shrug. “Just google it.”

Natasha sat a little straighter. “Actually, it’s pretty simple.” She began to pick at another nail as she described, in great detail, how to do it, along with a number of variations for different circumstances.

Natasha had cleaned more men’s blood from her silk things than she could recall.

“See?” Patsy said to Millie. “Thanks, Jo.”

Patsy had a pretty smile. Natasha returned it, and then, thankfully, her phone rang. She brought up the call, and said, “World Advanced Agency, my name is Jo, how may I help you?”

Behind her, Patsy and Millie still chatted away.

“Did you see the cover of USA Today? Pepper Potts and her girlfriend are getting married!”

“Come on, Patsy, that’s just rumors.”

“A girl can dream, ok?”

\--

When Natasha clocked out, she was accosted by Patsy on the way to the lobby. “Some of the girls are going for drinks tonight. Would you like to come with us, Jo?”

Natasha politely declined. “I’m busy tonight, but maybe next time.”

Patsy’s face fell a little, but she kept her grin. “Well, if you change your mind, we’ll be at Duke’s.”

Natasha waved as Patsy ran to catch up with the other women going out.

She made her way to the apartment she’d called home for the last six months. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was safe. Even so, Natasha did a sweep when she entered. Satisfied nothing was amiss, she settled down for a quiet evening cleaning her guns.

She left the TV on in the background as she worked. Close to midnight, during a late night show she was only half paying attention to, she heard the host say, “-Potts, head of Stark Industries, may be getting hitched soon! Hey, I only ask one thing: I call being the ring bearer! I mean, who doesn’t want-”

Natasha tapped the handle against her lips. The host moved on, talking about other rumors and gossip about the rich and famous. Natasha didn’t listen. She wondered just how Pepper and Maria were doing.

No use thinking too much of it. They were the past, and she’d left them behind.

She turned off the TV, put her last gun back together, and went to bed.

\--

It took Natasha a moment to realize Patsy was asking her out on a date.

“If not, that’s okay, sorry to bother you,” Patsy said, glancing down. She was a cute kid, but Natasha hadn’t realized that her overtures of friendship might have been just a little bit more. She was getting rusty.

“No, I’m flattered, but…” Natasha began.

“Someone else?”

Natasha gave her a rueful smile. “You could say that.”

Natasha had never been much for the exclusive department, and her partners were fine with it. But now, unattached, a nobody in a city people forgot existed, she found she thought more and more of just two.

When Natasha got home that night, she had in her hand a copy of yesterday’s USA Today. She dropped it on her kitchen table and stared at it for a long time. Pepper and Maria looked happy, Maria leaning in to say something to Pepper and Pepper laughing.

There was an unfamiliar and uncomfortable pang within Natasha. Well… maybe she could at least pay them a visit. It didn’t mean she was going back or giving up on this cover; and maybe making new covers didn’t mean giving up being Natasha Romanoff either.

At first, she had spent a little time in New York, where they were then living, and caught a potential blackmailer and returned the photos to them. But maybe this time, she would actually stop in.

\--

Pepper stared at her with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Well, this is a bit deja vu,” Natasha said, giving her a little smirk. “May I come in?” It had started raining, although not much, and she was getting a little wet.

“Of course, come in,” Pepper said, stepping aside and going into automatic mode. “It’s… It’s great to see you.”

“And you.” Her smile was genuine this time.

Before either could say anything else, Maria appeared in the lobby.

“Natasha,” she murmured, breathless and disbelieving.

“Is there something on my face?”

The joke went ignored; the next moment, Maria wrapped her arms around Natasha, pulling her in.

“You didn’t say goodbye.”

Natasha stroked Maria’s back. “I know. I’m sorry.”

\--

Natasha had not meant to fall in bed with the two of them, but there it was. They had sex, and it was urgent and needy, like touch between them was the only way to save their lives. In the morning, Natasha slipped out of bed, long before Maria or Pepper would wake, and took a long, hot shower.

It hadn’t been a good idea to come. Now she didn’t want to leave. “Good going,” she muttered as she leaned against the tiled wall. The water ran down her legs, starting to grow cold.

When she finally got out of the shower, Maria and Pepper were waiting for her, up and dressed. “Why so serious?” Natasha said in her best impression, but her attempt to lighten the mood fell short.

It was Maria who stepped forward. “Natasha,” she said, evenly, “please stay.”

There were a thousand reasons why Natasha shouldn’t. The highest was that she was a target for dozens of enemy organizations. It put all of them at risk. After that, she was a target for the government as well. They wanted someone accountable, and they could very well decide it was worth it to arrest her. After that, there was a laundry list that ranged from appearances to practicality to out and out fear (a feeling Natasha admitted to as little as she could.)

But here was Maria asking her to stay, when Natasha wanted to stay.

It also wasn’t solely Maria’s place to ask.

But before Natasha could brush her off, could say, “It wouldn’t be a good idea,” Pepper was there, one hand on Natasha’s shoulder. Her hand felt cold, like it always did. Bad circulation was a gift from her gran, she had joked once. But it was a reassuring cold, a presence that Natasha felt deep inside her.

“Please,” Pepper said. “I know you might think you should leave. I half-expected you to leave before this morning. But you can stay if you want. There’s no reason you can give to which we can’t say it doesn’t matter to us.”

Natasha hadn’t had a home in a long, long time. SHIELD had been the most like one in many ways, but now she was floating again.

Maria took her hand. “Pepper’s too nice to say it, but you still owe me for that non-goodbye, you know.” Maria’s voice was stern, but her eyes were soft, looking at Natasha fondly. “So don’t go disappearing on me without some kind of goodbye this time. Better yet, don’t go at all.”

“Maria,” Pepper said in warning. Clearly, they’d had some kind of discussion over how they wanted to handle this.

It made Natasha laugh. She laughed genuinely for the first time in too long, until she was clutching one side and hanging onto Pepper for support.

“Okay,” she said, once she calmed herself. “Okay, I’ll stay. For now.”

She couldn’t promise forever. Circumstances often changed, and if necessity dictated, Natasha would leave. But she would still love these two, and that wasn’t going to change any time soon.

She found herself enveloped by both Pepper and Maria. Natasha didn’t hide her smile as she pressed her face into a shoulder. She tried out thinking of these two women as home and… And it felt right.

She was home.

Much later, Natasha asked, a sly grin on her face, “So what’s this I hear about marriage?”

Pepper and Maria both effusively denied it.

Too bad. Patsy would be disappointed.


End file.
